Oh, Shanti, mama. I'm so very sorry. 
She has had such a good life with you. She is spending all her days in love and light with a family who adores her. It does not make it any easier for you but maybe knowing her soul is happy could be a small comfort. Sending you love.
Thanks for the accolades but I stole that one from Susan Wise Bauer herself.
I just logged on a few days ago for the first time in.... a year? How are you?Shanti, I'm so sorry. I hope you have a loving goodbye with your pup.
NRR- I've been MIA for a couple of days with busy work schedule- picked up an extra 12 hour day of insanity on Monday in an over-crowded, over-census hospital, followed by a (pre-booked) 12 hour night Tuesday. Today and tomorrow I'm teaching in the lab.
RR- I managed to fit in a 6.5k run on Tuesday, but my pelvis/hip feels off. I'm working on daily yoga, and a trip to the chiro next week if I can squeeze one in.
I could use some dingo wisdom on a couple of counts:
1. One of my daughter's preschool classmates was diagnosed with leukemia this week. She's gone to Vancouver to Children's hospital, and has three years of chemo/treatment in store (for a 3 1/2 year old, it's a lifetime of chemo). She and my daughter were in preschool on the same days from January to August, but we switched days in September and they haven't been in the same class since. I haven't told my daughter about it. Grandma died from leukemia one week ago. We haven't played with this girl outside of preschool, though she was probably her closest preschool friend through the spring/summer. I don't think my daughter will notice that she is "missing" since she's not in the same class anymore. Is it reasonable to keep this "secret" and not tell my daughter? My thought is that unless she asks, I'm not saying anything.
2. I'm going to the provincial public health association conference next week. My main reason for attending is that it was suggested by the prof I spoke to from the MPH program I'll apply to for next year as a good place for networking. I'm an uncomfortable networker/schmoozer. I hope to connect with this prof and potentially others from the program (and hopefully increase my odds of being accepted). Should I email him this week to re-introduce myself? Just re-introduce at the conference? I had a couple of emails, and we talked on the phone in June. Any tips? I'm working on my confidence, and I bought a new dress :)
Oh, Shanti. I'm so sorry, mama. Boy, do I remember that pain well. It's too young. Even so, remember, she has had a blessed life filled with nothing but love and tenderness.
Melw - Exactly what Gaye said.
Hollysmom -
No running today, but could I get Desert Classic Half Marathon added to the race list for February 2? Thank you!!!
I could use my phone to post but mdc mobile is not working well for me. The dingos will somehow have to live without my (relative) wisdom.sparkle, thanks for the laugh. I'll toss you a ladder in your quicksand, if it helps. This is the hard part of the semester. Winter break is getting close enough to taste.
mommajb, big hugs. Congrats on the sale of your home, and I hope that the rest turns around for you soon. Sushi for thanksgiving sounds yummy to me!
It's Friday. I am ignoring all phone calls begging me to come in to the hospital this weekend, and will be cleaning up my yard and house and hanging out with my kids and NOT working until Monday. I have prep and some meetings on Monday, then 12 hour nights Mon/Tues before heading to Vancouver on Wednesday. But first, Friday night bootcamp. With a lingering cough and snuffle, but much better than the last four Fridays (can you believe it- sick for FIVE weeks, and made it to bootcamp all but one of them?!).
Congrats on the sale of the house.
. Meant to respond to your post elsewhere, but didn't. You're reasonable. I don't really know what to make of this and am trying not to make it a bigger deal than it feels. I saw him a week after he was born but not after because she gave off the very strong vibe that she didn't want company (as in, when I apologized for not having gone up in a few weeks she said "that's fine. I don't really want other people around him").
For reference: he's about 4 lbs 13 oz right now, and somewhere between 15 and 17 inches long. In other words: YES HE FITS IN A PREEMIE SLEEPER--but if she didn't buy it, she doesn't like it.
Sparkle, I hope you can find a positive way to handle the swings.
Not Sudoko, these ones:
Mommajb - Did the family repent their evil birthday-forgetfulness? I would suddenly be able to remember all sorts of things to forget until their memory improved dramatically. And another 
on the sale and sushi. Some of my favorite Thanksgivings were utterly turkey-and-trimmings free. Maybe we could go to Todai together. My girls are sushi nuts.
Sparkle - For you too.
Geo - Damn! In a good way!
Shanti - Thinking of you today.
Real - I'm sorry your sister and H are acting up. I certainly have no advice, my mom basically told me that she's been forbidden to pass along my brother's mailing address so I can't send him the presents I have for his boys (including the one due 12/21).
Here are some pix of Macbeth even though most of you may have already seen them on FB.
eh bien.
I just cannot imagine.
) And I should really be more productive with this extra time, but instead, I baked some pumpkin bread, played wii with DS, and am probably going to go to bed at 9:30. Oh well. There will be time for laundry tomorrow, right? I hope.
Mommajb - It's not okay to blow off a birthday. I was pissed for months after I had a lame celebration for my birthday this year and next year I'll be planning my own party, no more hoping for miracles. But to just completely get nothing even lame is beyond the pale. I think I'd go so far as to sit everyone down, throw a real fit (probably with tears because I'd be so hurt for real) and tell them they better get together and make it right. It's not cool and if they get away with it and go on and pull that crap with their grown up partners they'll be doing real damage in those relationships as well. I'm just so mad for you!
Lofty - C is in the yellow skirt in the first pic, A is the littlest witch and the one posing rather dramatically. :) That sucks about the kite surfing. Maybe you could pick some theme to check out as you travel, good road food or funky old farm stands or somesuch to break up the driving? Regardless, aren't you going to see your family too? And it's nice to have a change of scene even if you don't get to go surfing.
mommajb, your post and your tone make me wish we could just hang out. I have been through many forgotten birthdays (my own mother consistently gets the date wrong ) and for whatever reason, the sting just doesn't relent. My kids have recently taken over the role of making it important. Now, if they could just remember the date. Congratulations on the sale of the house. I hope that it lightens your load and helps you look forward. Like Plady said, I could think of a few things to forget. Turkey would be first, probably. Sushi sounds perfect. On the running/asthma thing, Days 1 and 2 are historically my Wonder Woman days, so that resonates with me.
Gaye, when I talked to the NP about my mirena and my cycle issues and hormone problems, she said she would be surprised if the hormone levels in the IUD would suppress ovulation. Maybe it did at the very start, but most of the time I could feel everything through a cycle, just never "got a period" until this year. At any rate, I have found myself on BCPs and an SSRI (though now I will wean off the SSRI) to combat exactly the stuff sparkle talks about. I feel the peaks and valleys just like that, and the valleys have seemed longer and deeper, with the peaks less and less.
That said, I wonder whether Vit D deficiency is another player in my personal saga. Two weeks in the UAE and a few hours in the sun, and things are really looking up. Of course, the time in the sunshine at the beach also includes very meditative quiet time with little but the sound of waves rolling in. Too many variables.
MelW, I would probably go info-lite about the friend--she is ill with something serious and needs to be gone for treatments. And we certainly hope she is feeling better soon. How's the breathing? On the schmoozing, I would probably send an e-mail just to feel out whether the other person will have some time to chat--even just grabbing a coffee or half an hour in a hotel lobby. The dress should also help.
real, I hope your sister comes out of the funk soon, and the family can get together. Happy that your little nephew is home. One always hopes that a hardship like that might right some perspectives (like the material stuff). It can be a disappointment when it doesn't. And as for dh, I hope he can shape up, or at least shut up.
Plady, I love the pics! And I am just thrilled that you could take a pack of wild animals and put on Macbeth. So awesome.
Lofty, my FB concerns were more about the poisonous posts from people on my feed. I don't care about the likes so much. Also, I don't enable most stuff to post on my behalf. I don't know. Mostly I find myself irritated by posts and I find myself wishing I had not logged on. And that feeling should make me not log on, no?
We are officially two weeks here, and finally today, falling into a routine, I think. I got up early and went out for a 45-minute walk before the kids got up, which is really necessary for getting my mind right before jumping into lessons. Dd is all caught up again, ahead even, except for French. Ds should be caught up in another week. I feel like I keep saying that and it doesn't happen. But we have our workplace properly outfitted, and we also have the holiday on our side this week. We'll get there. Just have to get them to learn -ir and -re verb endings for the present tense.
RR: I am considering evening jogs. Something about my energy cycles has me wanting to be out every evening, running up and down the Corniche. I will give it a shot tonight, I think. Also, dh scored us fancy-pants hotel-club memberships for the private beach and health club, so I will be looking into yoga classes and whatever else they offer. Walking distance. I have a feeling that June will come much, much faster this year.
Also, dh has already begun talking about buying a house. Back home. I am not going to bring it up, but I sure don't hate the idea of it.
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